The Mystery Culinary Challenge

  A surprise ingredient or theme, cooking, finding new recipes…

Those are the 3 elements that make up the Mystery Culinary Challenge the Castle Keepers have to do each month. It’s a spin off of the television show called Master Chef Junior. In that show, they are given a mystery ingredient and once that is revealed, they are to make up a dish using it… all in a certain amount of time. Then the judges taste the dish and decide which contestants will stay for the next level and which are let go.

With the Castle Keeper girls, we aren’t so involved because each of the girls complete the challenge in their own homes. Once a month, one of the girls (chosen in a random drawing) chooses either a theme or ingredient that each of the girls has to incorporate into their cooking. We chose to do it this way because some are don’t do gluten, some don’t want sugar, etc., and this way they are able to choose a recipe themselves that fits their requirements.

The first month the theme was to make an entree from a place that you wanted to visit some day. The girls, of course, did a great job and they made recipes from Poland, Israel, Switzerland, Italy, France and more. It was such a creative idea.

This month the girls were challenge to find a recipe that used 2 or more ingredients from the Scripture passage II Samuel 17:28-29.

27 And it came to pass, when David was come to Mahanaim, that Shobi the son of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodebar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,

28 Brought beds, and basons, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,

29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the people that were with him, to eat: for they said, The people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty, in the wilderness.

You never know what recipe they’ll post since they all are choosing their own.

It’s just another challenge the girls have each month that I hope they find enjoyable and one that will help them practice new cooking techniques, new recipes, broaden their palettes and stretch themselves in the kitchen. 🙂